A
62-inch big-screen television flickers always onat one end of a large
room. It is joined by the glow of several nearby computer monitors. Three
or four animated conversations may be going on all at once, or it may
be quiet. Open communication is encouraged in this room without cubicles.
This describes one of the Boeing Rapid Response Center sites.

Linking Seattle and Everett, Wash., with Long Beach, Calif., the Rapid
Response Center television is not tuned to CNN, Fox or the latest episode
of "American Idol." Instead the images that appear on screen show men
and women working at these three sites.

The video hookup between the locations is always at the readyprepared
for a North-South conference, a meeting or a virtual working-together
session. An emblematic tool, the TV symbolizes how technology has revolutionized
customer support. In fact, it is this TV, along with the Internet and
a telephone hotline, that helps present a single face to Boeing airplane
customers.

"A little over three years ago, Boeing became the first commercial airplane
manufacturer to provide operators with an unprecedented level of support,"
said Bill Staufenberg, Customer Support and Rapid Response Center senior
manager. "Day and night, weekends and holidays, the Rapid Response Center
is a great example of how we're always working to keep pace with growing
customer expectations in an increasingly competitive market."

Indeed, the Rapid Response Center is a comprehensive source of information
designed to assist airline customers when technical problems arise outside
normal business hours.

Hurry up and wait

Boeing has always offered customers support. However, things were not
always seamless. Until 1994, the only 24-hour telephone numbers Boeing
had were for the Boeing operator and Spares Airplane on Ground (AOG) Desk.
A customer or Field Service representative could call in, ask the on-duty
staffer to locate an appropriate responder and then sit and wait until
an attendant returned the call. Of course, one would never know just how
long the wait would be.

In 1994, Service Engineering launched a pilot program. Based in Everett
and Renton, Wash., the so-called 24-Hour Desk relied on a combination
of volunteers and mandatory overtime to cover evenings, weekends and holidays.
This was only an interim step, however, and Boeing launched a concerted
effort to develop a permanent support solution.

The idea for today's Rapid Response Center gained momentum in the wake
of the Boeing and McDonnell Douglas merger under the leadership of George
Field, then Technical Services vice president for Commercial Airplanes,
and Robert Nova of the Field Service organization. It turned out that
the Douglas organization had been using an In-Service Coordination Center
to support airlines for a number of years. Boeing cited this as a best
practice and used it as the model for the expanded Rapid Response Center
concept for the newly merged companies.

One of the biggest challenges was to develop a completely new kind of
extended-hour work schedule for the broad range of technical specialists
who would staff the center. Then there was the question of finding dedicated
office facilities and equipping those facilities with the right kind of
communication and computer equipment to allow quick response to customer
requests and fast retrieval of technical information. By the summer of
1999, all was ready and the Rapid Response Center was off and running.

Whether it's tending to Air Force One, repairing the brakes on U.S. Secretary
of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's airplane during a recent mission to the Middle
East or keeping a VIP's Boeing Business Jet on par, the Rapid Response
Center is there to resolve mundaneand not so mundaneissues. Cracked
windows, burst tires, landing gears that don't extend, major maintenance
that takes place over a holidaythe center has readily dispatched advice
on all of these issues.

"It's the knowledge, experience and dedication both inside the Rapid
Response Center and on call that make it possible to successfully solve
an incredible variety of issues," said the Seattle-based Rapid Response
Center shift manager, Don Morton.

A team of technical experts, including structures and systems engineers,
spares personnel, specialists with flight line experience and Field Service
representatives, provides around-the-clock customer support at each location.
Customers dial a single number and are routed to the center most appropriate
for the airplane model in question. All three sites come together to assist
customers, using Boeing resources to their fullest extent. The result
of this collaboration is one-stop issue resolution and broad-based customer
support.

The Long Beach facility staffs its Rapid Response Center 24 hours a day,
seven days a week, in support of the 717 and heritage Douglas productsand
sometimes even heritage Boeing products. Cris Cristadoro, Service Engineering
Operations manager at the Long Beach center, recalled how the southern
California site seamlessly handled forwarded calls when a major earthquake
shut down the Puget Sound sites in early 2001.

"The earthquake was a demonstration of how well we can coordinate with
our Puget Sound counterparts to help maintain the company's global mission
of a safe and reliable commercial fleet," Cristadoro said. "That works
both ways," he added, noting that there have been a number of times when
the Puget Sound sites assisted Long Beach with stress engineering support.

At the Puget Sound sites, the teams operate from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., along
with weekends and holidays. During normal business hours, Puget Soundľarea
service engineers answer customer questions and provide support for in-production
and out-of-production Boeing airplanes. The goal is to have all three
sites report through a single structure, ultimately unifying the entire
organization.

Putting technology to work

Interactive video, Internet and telephone systems connect the Seattle,
Everett and Long Beach sites, allowing access to people and data. Relying
on the latest technology and good old-fashioned resources, these linkups
enable far-flung sites to remain in constant connection.

"The role of technology in the development of the Rapid Response Center
is crucial," Staufenberg said. "Our plan is to keep up, and keep our customers
satisfied."

In addition to the video and telephone links, the center uses digitally
stored technical documentation. Immediately accessible online to center
personnel, this information was previously available only on paper.

A completely new version of BOECOMa communication system used to
share technical information between service engineers and worldwide field
service representativesis scheduled to come online in early 2004,
and customers later will be able to connect to this information through
MyBoeingFleet.com. Additionally, solutions to previously resolved in-service
problems will be quickly accessible to all Boeing fleet operators. These
"reusable solutions," when combined with BOECOM and MyBoeingFleet.com,
will eventually provide customers with improved self-help capabilities.

Customers will be able to troubleshoot and resolve some of their own
problems, Staufenberg noted.

"Customers can rely on our tools to drive them to an answer," he said.
"They'll get quick access to necessary information by connecting to MyBoeingFleet.com.
They may not need to call usalthough of course we're always here if they
need us."

The right people, the right tools

The Rapid Response Center combines the right people and the right tools
to provide world-class customer support. Quickly responding to service
requests, the center personnel demonstrate a commitment to our customers'
success and how Boeing is meeting their needs. The Rapid Response Center
model has been so successful that in early 2003 Airbus Industrie launched
a similar concept. Only now are they providing around-the-clock support.

A recent Next-Generation 737 conference was a good indicator of the success
of the Rapid Response Center concept. With Boeing personnel out of the
room, airline operators held a caucus to discuss Boeing customer support
and the role of the Rapid Response Center in particular.

Caucus members complimented the support they've received from the center.
They roundly praised quick turnaround times as well as the quality and
usefulness of solutions provided.

Doing more with less

These tough economic times are forcing airlines to do more with less,
and the Rapid Response Center continues to serve Boeing customers and
meet their needs. As airline engineering staffs are cut back, airlines
are calling upon the Boeing Service Engineering organization and the Rapid
Response Center more and more to help resolve issues.

In the past 12 months alone, the center has responded to about 8,200
requests for assistance. More than 3,000 of these were AOG situations,
and the center's prompt response helped reduce the impact on airline schedules.
The center saves operators millions of dollars every year by minimizing
schedule delays and lost work time.

"The importance of the service that the Rapid Response Center provides
our customers cannot be overestimated," Staufenberg said. "The center
is just one way we show how we're committed to our customers' success.
It's how we demonstrate our dedication to our airplane customers, to the
traveling public and to the entire aviation industry." ?